


Only As Good As Yesterday

by streetlights



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Angst, Gen, Joshua-centric, Moving On, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-30
Updated: 2013-10-30
Packaged: 2017-12-30 23:18:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1024573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/streetlights/pseuds/streetlights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's leaving, and you can't make him stay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only As Good As Yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> A remix of this piece can be read [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1458907).

You could have broken him. Could have pushed too far, hurt too much. One wrong move, one misplaced laugh, and you could have left him bitter and confused in a city not worth protecting. He wouldn’t have rejected, wouldn’t have changed.

You could have won. You could have torn him apart along with such a beloved city. Carved your mark in a history where Shibuya never _was_ , as if to show the world _I’m right. I’m right. I told you so._

It never happened. You stare at your bloodless hands and know that _this is right_ but you can’t swallow the thought even though _this is the present_ and _it never happened._

_This is right._

 

 

He will never forgive you, and you know it.

He misses you, though. He tells you stories, waits near the station every other day. Whispers _hachiko_ though he never knows if you’re listening.

And then one day he shows up. Stares at the vacant room and states, flatly, _I’m leaving._

You were the last to know, but that’s only because you never bothered.

(You _couldn’t_.)

 

 

(In some other dimension, in some other history, _it could have happened_.

The city could have burned, and he along with it.

 _It could have happened._ )

 

 

One wrong move, one misplaced laugh, and he pulls his arm away. Says _since when did I ever need your permission?_

You bristle. _Don’t act so self-important, dear. I’m doing this for Shibuya’s benefit._

He looks away, thinks about crossing his arms. He knows very little of you, but he knows enough to say it. _Sounds like an excuse to me._

He will leave Shibuya. Leave the place he calls home, leave _you_ , and you won't be able to do anything about it. You can't go after him. You chained yourself to this city he loves, the city _you_ love. Buried yourself deep with its music ingrained in your very soul.

You are tied down to this city of endless creativity. He is but a mere boy.

 

 

Sanae shakes his head at you, says _you’re just not used to not getting what you want_.

 _It doesn’t hurt,_ you tell him. But nobody believes you, because you _never wanted this._

 

 

And so he disappears, but not on your terms. Not with fallen debris and a ruined city. Not with a rewritten history.

He leaves with a somber expression. No regret, no anger. But you know from his expression that he has moved on. The world won't wait for him.

 

 

Time marches on.

You don’t know when he will return – but you know it won’t be because of you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My own spin on Neku moving on, and Joshua learning to. I might have wrote it in a sadder tone than I think it really is, lol. I just think that if Joshua won't be able to meet Neku after the Game and be his proper friend (for any possible reason), then they'll both have to move on eventually. Neku still trusts Joshua, but they both have their own lives, and I don't really expect their stories to intersect that much in the future (at least in this fic.) So, y'know. No use being hung up on the past and some weird friendship they had when they won't be able to continue it, even if they wanted to.

**Author's Note:**

> My own spin on Neku moving on, and Joshua learning to. I might have written this in a sadder tone than I intended to. I think that if Joshua won't be able to meet Neku after the Game and be his proper friend (for any possible reason), then they'll both have to move on eventually. Neku still trusts Joshua, but they both have their own lives, and I don't really expect their stories to intersect that much in the future (at least in this ficverse.) So, y'know. No use being hung up on the past and some weird friendship they had when they won't be able to continue it, even if they wanted to.


End file.
